Re: MTV's 16 and Pregnant

Thank God! This could be a blessing for Amber. She needs something serious to get her attention and get her motivated to stop the violence. If she doesn't stop she will end up dead or in prison for hurting or killing someone else. Her rage will lead her to nothing that is good. I pray for Leah's sake, Amber really does something that will turn her life around. She can't just snap her fingers and stop the rage inside of her. She will need to do LOTS of work. I am sure Dr. Drew has laid out the chance for her to get help. Now she needs to do it, or she may end up doing serious prison time...not that she doesn't deserve it.

What is bothersome about the new teen parents is the continued violence. Markai attacking James. It's so nuts. Don't these kids know it's a crime to assault people? I'm so fed up with it.

Re: MTV's 16 and Pregnant

For some reason, people don't seem to take it as serious when a woman assaults a man. If Gary was hitting Amber, all hell would have broken loose along time ago. I'm glad to see that the authorities finally stepped in.

Re: MTV's 16 and Pregnant

The saddest part is it took too long, and that MTV kept her on their show - she was good for ratings, I never saw them take a responsible roll with her - she should've had counseling, she should never have been in that spotlight - for her she seemed to get some "validation" with those cameras rolling and blaming Gary, or blaming her past, or blaming her medication -

Coincidently today Dr Phil's show was on domestic violence, and abuse - it was remarkable how Amber fit those categories - but like ilovefootball stated, since it was woman on a man - it went a long time (and lots of public outcry on message boards at least) before charges were brought up -

she needs help - not notority, she needs to take responsibility for her actions, as opposed to being rewarded for them (more air time, and of course she did get a nice paycheck for being on Teen Mom)

Re: MTV's 16 and Pregnant

I am very glad to see the local authorities step up and do something. Apparently there are a total of 3 incidents on film (only 2 shown on tv) and many others that were unreported. As someone who has worked law enforcement for 13 years I can tell you that woman on man domestic violence is FAR more prevelant than many people think. I personally think NO person has the right to put hands on another in anger and I feel no sympathy for guys that abuse their wives. There is an unfortunate amout of male DV victims going to jail truing to defend themselves. I have seen numerous cases where a woman starts hitting and kicking a man and the guy pushes her to get away and ends up in jail. Many officers just assume that the man is always the instigator. Most states have "primary aggressor" laws that mean the person with the least amount of injuries is the one arrested, regardless of who started it or got the most violent.

When I saw Amber's actions on the show I was hoping the cops would be called and lock her up. Every time Gary was trying to get away or cowering to avoid her. The unfortunate thing is thast she probably won't get jail time (usually probation and counseling for first time offenders) but she is clearly unable to control her temper. I have read several articles the last few days about her drinking, sleeping around, and lack of concern for her daughter. It would be nice to see Gary get custody but only time will tell. I hope that MTV stops her cashflow from their shows so she can't buy her way out of trouble. We'll see what happens.

Re: MTV's 16 and Pregnant

When I saw Amber's actions on the show I was hoping the cops would be called and lock her up. Every time Gary was trying to get away or cowering to avoid her. The unfortunate thing is thast she probably won't get jail time (usually probation and counseling for first time offenders) but she is clearly unable to control her temper. I have read several articles the last few days about her drinking, sleeping around, and lack of concern for her daughter. It would be nice to see Gary get custody but only time will tell. I hope that MTV stops her cashflow from their shows so she can't buy her way out of trouble. We'll see what happens.[/QUOTE]

---I think the fact that Gary never, ever tried to so much as defend himself makes Amber look particularly bad. He always tried to defuse the situation when she started hitting, or threatening to hit, him. As big as Gary is, he certainly could have defended himself against her attacks, but he always restrained himself, though I'm not sure if that's because he wasn't going to hit a woman or because he had seen evidence of just how violent she could get when enraged or because he just didn't want Leah to see any more than she had. Possibly his self-esteem is just so low that the didn't think he deserved a defense, even from himself, either. I was also wondering about Amber's martial arts (or whatever that was) training. Most forms of martial arts emphasize that one shouldn't use them except in self defense. Amber was using her skills to start fights, not to defend herself or anyone else.

I agree that Amber needed a major wake-up call. I saw her Sixteen and Pregnant episode recently, and while she was somewhat whiney in that, she was no where near as angry and violent. I don't know if it's the stress of motherhood etc. or some kind of post-partum problem, but there seems to have been some kind of major mental/emotional break since then. Also, her parents and family were very much in evidence in that episode, and they seem to have disappeared in Teen Mom. What happened there?

I'm with those who hope that she is denied custody of Leah, at least temporarily, until she can get her anger under control, and I don't think that's going to happen until she gets to the root of why she's so angry in the first place.

Re: MTV's 16 and Pregnant

I don't know how much I'd trust what's in articles out right now. Every time something like this happens, everyone wants to be involved and have something to say, and pretty soon there are just as many untrue things out there as true things. So I'm going to hold off on judgment of her amount of concern for her daughter, sleeping around, and/or drinking.

What IS the undeniable truth is that she was abusive to Gary over and over again. I actually think it might be good that she probably won't get jail time but instead mandatory counseling. She'll HAVE to go to it, she'll have to complete an anger management course, and her counselor won't sign off on it until she's ready.